The germ of this company arose ten years ago from two Dutch computer scientists, experts in new technologies and great lovers of comic books. After extensive research on the Internet, René Schoenmakers and Marco Jansen believe that the comic world needed a web page about hubier to make it considered truly special, that permits to interact with other collectors and keep it informed of the material that went finding and gathering The combination of the roots of the words « catálogo » and « wikipedia » dio lugar has known denomination.
In a short time the website began to attract visitors, and in 2011 it organized the first auctions. At first they were only dedicated to comics, but little by little it expanded to more objects such as books, records, jewellery, watches, stamps, pieces of art and – finally – motorbikes and cars. currently Catawiki has 90 different categories and auctions about 30,000 lots every week.
Its progress in the second decade of the century has been dazzling: in 2015 it received the Deloitte Fasto 500 award for the fastest growing European technology company; five years earlier he had been distinguished with one of the Accenture Innovation awards. If in 2014 it had a hundred people, it was about 600 people. The headquarters will meet in Assen – known for its motorcycling circuit – and has offices in Amsterdam and several European cities.
A third of the company’s staff are the llamados experts (for legal reasons we cannot use the term « auctioneers »: Catawiki is not a traditional auction company, but an online platform for auctioning). They are responsible for receiving, examining and selecting the lots offered by the sellers, finding the best way to present them and overseeing the development of each auction as if it were an in-person auction. They also advise buyers and try to resolve any doubts they may have. In the field of automotive (coaches, motorcycles, bikes and automobiles) one of the most frequent questions that experts receive is – needless to say – “What is the value of my vehicle?”. That’s why one of their tasks is to help sellers determine the real quote.
Because in this section of Catawiki everything comes: from €500 restoration projects to exceptional pieces that can fetch many thousands of euros. I have to say that so far the mercado español has focused on low and medium priced vehicles, while the most valuable iban has appeared to German, Dutch, Belgian, etc. buyers. But this is starting to change and every time more interesting transactions occur.
Register as a buyer or seller on Catawiki it is completely free; enough with the number, an email address and a phone number. Presenting a vehicle for auction is very simple, just follow the instructions on the website itself to enter the data and images. But to obtain a good commercial result (that is, to get a lot of bids and sell it at the highest price) I should give the most complete and careful information possible and some good photos (also videos, if possible) that would be very useful ·illuminated, from all angles and with maximum detail. Once the expert has admitted the vehicle to auction – having made, if it is third party, the necessary adjustments in agreement with the seller – it is included in one of the thematic groups (antique, classic, competition, etc.) and is scheduled for the next round of sales. The auction will last between 10 and 12 days, and if the vehicle finds a buyer, Catawiki will put it in touch with the seller, who will pay a commission based on the final sale price. If the reserve price set by the seller (the minimum figure below which he is not willing to sell it) has not been reached, he will not have to pay anything and, if he wants, he can resubmit it again come in.
The best way to hear how a platform works is to enter a gossip to see the auctions that are going on. You can browse the lots on offer, get to know and detail them, and watch them bid in real time. It is a new way of buying and selling collector vehicles that opens the doors to the European market.
This year we could begin to notice the presence of Catawiki in the world of the classics of our country, since the company intends to join to meet by sponsoring some events.
REPORT PUBLICATION
www.catawiki.com
